Costco plans to open 24 stores this year, including 15 throughout the US

• Fifteen of those stores will open in the US, while 9 will open internationally.
• CFO Richard Galanti said there will be 27 openings, including three 'relocations.'

Costco plans to open up a net of 24 stores this fiscal year, Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti said during a company earnings call Thursday.

According to Galanti, seven of those stores opened during the first quarter of Costco's fiscal year, which began on September 1. One of those new store openings was Costco's first store in New Zealand, and another was the retailer's first store in Sweden.

In total, there will be 27 new stores openings, including three "relocations" for stores.

Nine of those 24 net stores will open internationally, including Costco's third and fourth locations in China, Galanti said. The US will get 15 more stores.

"We plan three more in (the second quarter), four in (the third quarter) and 10 (in the fourth quarter)," Galanti said.

As of Monday, Costco operates 847 stores across the country, according to its website.

The announcement of new store openings comes as Costco reported it missed Wall Street expectations for the first fiscal quarter of the year, as it saw a year-over-year dip in ecommerce sales of 3.7%.

Costco earned $3.07 earnings per share for the quarter — short of the $3.12 analysts expected.

Got a tip about Costco? Ben Tobin can be reached by email at btobin@insider.com or via the encrypted app Signal or text at (703) 498-9171.